Tryouts for Midnight Madness took place on Oct. 2 to find the best entertainers that the Quinnipiac community has to offer.

The Midnight Madness Committee, composed of students from Student Government, the cheerleading squad, the dance groups and the athletic teams, had quite a bit of talent to choose from during the two hour tryouts.

“We were shocked by how many showed up for tryouts,” said Jack McDonald, director of Athletics and Recreation.

There were eight prospective singers. Each singer had three minutes to sing “God Bless America” and then a song of their choice.

“There were a few that stuck out to me,” said freshman Kristyn Greenstein, who went to watch the tryouts. “Overall, they were all talented.”

Senior Valeria Pensa was chosen to sing at Midnight Madness with two backups, Juniors Andrea Szymona and Nicole Williams.

Each of these girls could be asked to perform the National Anthem at athletic events when the pep band is not present, so this will not be their only opportunity to shine.

The Master of Ceremonies had four possible candidates who were also given three minutes to prove themselves worthy to the committee. The winner was junior Mike Germano and the backup, senior Jamie McCarty.

Whether or not the MC will be used again “remains to be seen,” said McDonald. “We may be able to use them in another athletic capacity if [they] do well to keep the school spirit sky high.”

There were six people who tried out to be the mascot, Boomer the Bobcat. Each audition lasted three minutes where the contestants got to show their stuff in the Bobcat uniform. Along with dances and other crazy antics, the participants were asked a few simple questions to finish off their auditions.

Who’s our new Boomer? Well, that’s part of the fun, according to McDonald.

“It’s sort of mystic,” McDonald said. “We like for it to be kept secret.”

Quinnipiac students will see the new Boomer in costume at Midnight Madness doing the usual mascot stuff to keep the night fun and exciting.

The committee met on Oct. 10 to decide the actual script of the evening. Midnight Madness will take place on Oct. 17, and will show off Quinnipiac’s talented students and athletes.